UPDATE: Walmart no longer selling cigarettes?

......that's what I was told by a clerk in the Ann Street location in Montgomery, which has undergone a complete renovation---including an almost all-self-checkout system (more on that later). No tobacco products either! (I was looking for a lighter). But of course that's info from one floor-level employee, who added they may bring them back.

     Murphy gas stations (also headquartered in Arkansas) are frequently located near the Walmart stores, as is the Ann Street gas station. USA Today reported in 2016 that Walmart was taking over operations at the Murphy stations, including the cigarette sales. So perhaps only the inside Walmart store cigarette sales are being dropped?

     CVS drugstores dropped the sale of cigarettes in 2014, saying:

"Cigarettes and tobacco products have no place in a setting where health care is delivered. This is the right thing to do."

     One study found the decision contributed to an overall drop in retail cigarette sales:

“After CVS’s tobacco removal, household- and population-level cigarette purchasing declined significantly,” the study concluded.

     Oh, and about the Walmart self-checkout decision? It is contributing to my own decision to shop there less...unless they want to give me a 10% discount for the work I do in place of a clerk.

 [UPDATE: I sent a media inquiry to the Walmart media office, but did not receive a reply.]